[TYPES] online conferences should be free

[Benjamin Pierce]

On Sun, Jun 6, 2021 at 1:15 AM Stefan Monnier <monnier at iro.umontreal.ca>
wrote:

> [ The Types Forum, http://lists.seas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/types-list
> ]
>
> I think it would make sense for the ACM to host some of those services
> (and participate in their development).  IIUC this is partly what
> happen(s|ed) with clowdr.
>

I can say a few words about what happened with Clowdr... :-)

For those that don't know, Clowdr <http://Clowdr.org> is an open-source
virtual conference platform that's been under development for the past year.

The first version of Clowdr in summer 2020 was supported by a small NSF
grant. Since the autumn, further development has been led by Clowdr CIC, a
UK Community Interest Company that was set up to maintain, develop, and
help conferences use Clowdr. The company has grown organically, funded by
service contracts with individual conferences under which Clowdr hosts the
platform and, in some cases, assists with conference organization and
logistics. Several of these have been ACM conferences, but the company has
never received funding or sponsorship directly from ACM.

Best,

    - Benjamin

P.S. For full disclosure, I am one of the original Clowdr developers and
one of the founding directors of Clowdr CIC. To avoid conflicts of
interest, I resigned all my official positions within ACM and SIGPLAN when
the company was formed.